Event #33: $50,000 Poker Players Championship

Day 2 of the Event #33: $50,000 Poker Players Championship has come to a conclusion with Michael Mizrachi leading the remaining 42 players.

The opening day of the Poker Players Championship saw 77 players take a seat throughout the day as only 74 would survive until the bagging and tagging process at the end of the night. Leading those players would be three-time WSOP bracelet winner Benny Glaser who was sitting slightly ahead of previous Poker Players Championship winners Brian Rast and John Hennigan.

Late registration was open through dinner break, and an additional ten players would enter the tournament as the likes of Ben Lamb, Bryn Kenney, Gus Hansen, Aaron Ogus, Sergii Baranov, Luke Schwartz, Cary Katz, Tommy Hang, and Chris Klodnicki all found themselves in the field, while defending champion Elior Sion would enter as the buzzer sounded after dinner break.

Once registration closed, and the 87-player field was set, a prize pool of $4,176,000 would be created that would pay the final 14 players a guaranteed $72,500. Those fortunate enough to make the final table would each be guaranteed a $191,234 payday, while the eventual winner of the Poker Players Championship would collect the $1,239,126 first prize, the coveted WSOP bracelet, and the David "Chip" Reese Memorial Trophy.

Once play concluded, just 42 players would remain for Day 3 play. Leading those players would be two-time Poker Players Championship winner Michael Mizrachi who amassed a chip stack of 1,274,000. Right behind Mizrachi is Phil Ivey (1,131,000), Shaun Deeb (933,000), Eli Elezra (917,000), and Dan Smith (901,500). Previous champions Mike Gorodinsky (519,000), Elior Sion (344,000), Brian Rast (304,500), and John Hennigan (289,000) are also still in contention, along with a multitude of mixed game crushers and WSOP bracelet winners.

Play is set to resume at 2pm (PDT) on Sunday, 17 June, with the PokerNews Live Reporting Team providing continuous live updates of all the Poker Players Championship action. So stay tuned right here to PokerNews.com for all the Event #33 updates, along with all the continued coverage from the 2018 World Series of Poker.

No-Limit Hold'em

As recapped to us by Eli Elezra, Nick Schulman raised all in from under the gun for 67,500 and Elezra called from the button. Michael Mizrachi called from the big blind and the flop came down    .

Mizrachi checked, Elezra bet 100,000 and Mizrachi folded.

Elezra showed    for a set of queens, well ahead of Schulman's   .

Schulman was unable to catch up, securing the pot for Elezra to increase his stack past the million mark.

However, a few hands later Elezra lost about 200,000 to Mizrachi.

Michael Mizrachi	1,200,000	280,000
Eli Elezra	920,000	60,000
Nick Schulman	0	-75,000

Limit Hold'em

Dan Smith opened the cutoff to 20,000 and Jean-Robert Bellande three-bet the button to 30,000. Smith called, and the flop landed    .

Smith checked, Bellande bet 10,000, and Smith called.

Both players checked the   on the turn as the   completed the board on the river.

Smith checked, Bellande bet 20,000 and Smith folded.

Dan Smith	830,000	-22,000
Jean-Robert Bellande	620,000	-54,000

No-Limit Hold'em

Phil Ivey raised to 13,000 from the cutoff and Daniel Negreanu called from the big blind.

They checked to the turn of a      board where Negreanu bet 10,000. Ivey called, the   river completed the board and Negreanu bet 27,000. Ivey called.

Negreanu showed    for a missed straight draw, while Ivey tabled    for tens and treys to win the pot.

Phil Ivey	1,225,000	80,000
Daniel Negreanu	358,000	-267,000

Pot-Limit Omaha

On a     flop Jesse Klein checked to Marco Johnson who potted to 40,000 off of an 80,000 chip stack. David "Bakes" Baker just called and Klein raised all in for 120,000. Johnson put the rest of his stack in the middle and Baker called, putting two players at risk.

Jesse Klein:     
Marco Johnson:     
David "Bakes" Baker:     

The turn was the   giving Baker a full house and the river   meant he sent both players to the rail.

David "Bakes" Baker	800,000	196,000
Jesse Klein	0	-80,000
Marco Johnson	0	-170,000

Razz

Jesse Klein:   /    / 
Eli Elezra:   /    / 

Jesse Klein bet on fourth and fifth street, with Elezra both calling. The players checked sixth street, and the action went check-check before seventh street was even dealt.

Elezra showed     for a ten-low and it was good.

Eli Elezra	860,000	330,000
Jesse Klein	80,000	-80,000

Razz

There was a big three-way pot in Razz, with John Monnette, Elior Sion and Benny Glaser still in the hand on seventh street.

Elior Sion:   /    /  - folded on seventh street
Benny Glaser:   /    / 
John Monnette:   /    / 

Monnette bet, Sion folded and Glaser called. Monnette showed     for a six low and Glaser mucked.

There were several murmurs of "Nice hand" from players at the table.

"Wow," said tablemate Justin Bonomo, "'Nice hands' from the whole table in a razz pot!"

John Monnette	540,000	220,000
Benny Glaser	280,000	-210,000
Elior Sion	260,000	41,000

No-Limit Hold'em

Dan Smith raised to 12,000 from under the gun, Jean-Robert Bellande called from the hijack and John Hennigan called from the big blind.

The flop came down     and Bellande bet 10,000 out of turn. Smith checked, Bellande's 10,000 stayed, Hennigan raised to 26,000, Smith check-reraised to 68,000, Bellande folded and Hennigan called.

The turn was the  , Smith checked, Hennigan bet 100,000 and Smith mulled it over for a bit before he folded.

"That was a strange time for a Hollywood," said Eric Wasserson.

"I had a massive hand," said Smith. "Not a Hollywood. Sick time for a needle, though."

Jean-Robert Bellande	674,000	54,000
Dan Smith	660,000	-85,000
John Hennigan	640,000	19,000

Razz

Phil Ivey had the bring-in and Mike Gorodinsky completed. Bryn Kenney called, as did Alexander Kostritsyn.

On fourth, Kenney bet, and both Kostritsyn and Gorodinsky called. On fifth, Kenney bet 20,000, Kostritsyn folded, and Gorodinsky raised to 40,000. Kenney raised all in for his 44,000 total, and Gorodinsky called. Each player's board ran out as follows:

Gorodinksy:    /      /  
Kenney:    /      /  
Kostritsyn:    /     (folded on fifth)

With Kenney making a jack-nine low, and Gorodinsky making a jack-eight low, Kenney would be eliminated from the Poker Players Championship.

Mike Gorodinsky	560,000	159,000
Alexander Kostritsyn	435,000	-66,000
Bryn Kenney	0	-74,000

No-Limit Hold'em

Adam Owen raised from the button, Michael Mizrachi three-bet from the big blind, Owen four-bet jammed for roughly 202,000 and Mizrachi called after a few moments with   . Owen trailed with   .

The board ran out      , giving Mizrachi a set of eights and four to a flush to eliminate Owen.

Michael Mizrachi	870,000	366,000
Adam Owen	0	-211,000